I’ve been desperately waiting to see a film at Sundance that lightens the dark mood over pending environmental apocalypse, corruption, war in Ukraine, and docs about the ugly underbelly of our species.
Thankfully, “Blueback” is that film, a lyrical drama starring Mia Wasikowska in a role that takes her – and two other actresses who play her at younger ages – underwater to explore a beautiful bay in an Australian town. With stunning cinematography of the mesmerizing fish, coral reefs, and flora under the sea, the film reminds us of the fragility of that ecosystem while also making us fall in love with it.
Director Robert Connolly wrote and directed the film based on a novella of the same name by Tim Winton, and told the Sundance audience most of the film was shot underwater.
Abby (Wasikowska as the adult) is a marine researcher who follows in the footsteps of her ocean-loving mother Dora (played by Radha Mitchell), also a fearless environmental advocate for the sea.
The film is about their close relationship, living in an isolated house that overlooks their beloved bay, having lost Abby’s father to the ocean in a work accident. The pair are connected to one another and the sea by free diving, which means they go deep underwater with no oxygen tanks and rely on their ability to hold their breath for a long time. Eric Bana makes a grizzled appearance as a solitary fisherman, part of the simple ecosystem in the bay that comes under threat from developers and more industrial fishing.
The simplicity and freedom of free diving – which Connolly referred to at the Q and A at Sundance as a “Zen state” – makes for the long, lyrical scenes underwater. The title character is an ancient, huge groper fish, who Abby befriends many feet underwater, encountered first as an eight-year-old child, and then visited throughout her young adult life.
“There’s magic in asking the actors to fall in love with the ocean,” said Connolly, noting all the actors learned how to free dive to play their roles.
The premiere screening was greeted with prolonged applause. The film will be released theatrically this year in the United States.